 | MESPA Home > PreK-3 Alignment > NAESP Advocacy | | Excerpt from the Foreword to the 2011 NAESP Foundation Task Force on Early Learning "Building & Supporting an Aligned System: A Vision for Transforming Education Across the PreK-Grade 3 Years."
As
our nation struggles with an unacceptably high dropout rate,
stakeholders are increasingly recognizing early learning as an essential
solution to reversing the trend. The benefits of high-quality early
learning programs are irrefutable, particularly for our neediest
children. However, the United States has yet to fully commit and align
policy, funding, and practice.
Recognizing this gap, in 2010,
the National Association of Elementary School Principals Foundation
convened a Task Force of leading researchers, advocates, policymakers,
and practitioners to examine how to promote efforts to provide
high-quality learning experiences for our youngest children. With
generous support from the ING Foundation, the Task Force convened over a
6-month period to examine the continuum of early learning from ages 3
through 8 and how to better connect resources to meet the needs of
children. This report details the results of those rich conversations.
The
work of this Task Force builds upon past efforts by NAESP to help build
knowledge and understanding of best practices. In 2005, NAESP developed
Leading Early Childhood Learning Communities: What Principals Should
Know and Be Able To Do, a guide that outlines the six standards for what
principals should know and be able to do as leaders of early childhood
learning communities:
- Embrace early childhood learning
- Engage families and communities
- Promote appropriate learning environments for young children
- Ensure quality teaching
- Use multiple assessments to strengthen learning
- Advocate for high-quality, universal early childhood education
Leading Early Childhood Learning Communities
Click on the NAESP Early Childhood Standards for Principals PDF (below) to download a 20-page executive summary of this
"guide for those who care about creating and supporting quality in
schools." The guide was researched and co-created by the National
Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and Collaborative
Communications Group. It stands firmly behind the knowledge that
high-quality early childhood education is not just an ideal; it's an
essential investment.The Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative,
of which MESPA is a member, is "a campaign for our youngest children."
Its members include business, education, and government -- united in an
overarching goal "to ensure that every young child has the best
possible start toward a healthy life of learning, achieving, and
succeeding.
Excerpt:
"As schools work to ensure that all
children develop as proficient students, they need to include three- and
four-year-olds in pre-kindergarten experiences, provide rich full-day
kindergarten programs and build new connections to the many early
childhood educators across communities.
"Early childhood
education does not need to be based in a school but should be connected
to local schools. Elementary school principals understand how many
children start school unprepared, and they are in a key position to
define school readiness.
"That’s why NAESP believes that
elementary school principals should be at the forefront of discussions
and activities that reach beyond the elementary campus. Everyone
involved in pre-K programs should understand what it takes for students
to be ready to succeed on the first day of school."
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NAESP_PreK-3_Alignment_Vision.pdf
2011 Report (16 pages) from the NAESP Foundation Task Force on Early Learning: "Building & Supporting an Aligned System, a vision for transforming education across the preK-grade 3 years." MESPA Executive Director P. Fred Storti is a member of this national task force.
NAESP_Early_Childhood_Standards.pdf
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| PreK-Grade 3 Advocacy | from the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
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| Starting Block | NAESP Principal magazine, May/June 2011Starting Block: The Merits of Early Childhood EducationPublished by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, this entire issue of the Principal magazine is focused on early childhood. Articles include: - Why PreK is Critical to Closing the Achievement Gap
- Assessing Young Children's Learning and Development
- Value-Added Early Learning
- Preparing Elementary Principals for Preschool
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| For more MN and national early education resources, |
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